The Deer Head

       It has been painfully hard to make myself pack this week. I can't wrap my head around the fact that this is our last week in our little AZ apartment. Come Sunday, we move in with my in-laws for a month. On June 25th, we ship off to New Hampshire where we've secured an apartment starting the first of July. It's all I can do to make myself pack up my life into the mounds of boxes. As I folded each thrifted dress or random anthro shirt I found myself mourning the fact that I wouldn't be seeing certain articles of clothing until JULY! How am I supposed to survive!

     Regardless of this struggle, I have left one thing hanging on my wall: my deer head. It's literally unpackable.... Not sure if that's a word, but it is now due to my deer head. I can't imagine my home without it and there is no way I would leave it behind. Danie and I pieced this beauty together when Houston and I first moved into our  little apartment. I wrote a DIY blog post on how to construct one of your own, and feel it would be fun to repost here. If your tempted by the magnificence of this art piece feel free to embark on your own DIY adventure. Here are some patchy directions to make this guy:

Needs:

One large sheet of your choice

One roll of duct tape

Tons of cardboard

A pen

A bucket ton of wood glue (mixed with water)

Trees

1. First thing you do is cut out tons of cardboard and duct tape it into the shape of a deer. (Danie says this is very difficult. What do I know, I just cut the strips of tape…)

(Me holding the cardboard silhouette we'd taped together)

2. Then you cover the frame in strips of duct tape. After the frame is covered, you wet strips of the sheet in glue and begin laying it atop the frame. Totally don’t have a picture of this due, to super gluey hands. I’ll be better about it next time.

3. Find antlers… Usually Danie makes these out of cardboard, but since I have little to no patience, and could not take cutting one more strip of duct tape, we decided upon stick hunting.

(Danie being brave enough to face the scorpions that could have been around)

(I held the sticks)

4. After selecting your antlers, and successfully dodging rattle snakes and scorpions, duct tape them in place and then cover the rest of the head in strips of fabric. P.S. it looks like I’m balding in this pic, but I blame the lighting.

5. Allow time to dry. Don’t rush hanging it, or you’ll end up with glue on your couch (Not that I would know…) Then have friends over to compliment your super indie deer head. 

There it is, and trust me, I've received tons of compliments. 

Before the Boxes...

I've read countless blog postings on how to make your blog successful. I've pinned, read, repined, and so on and so forth. Each article has encouraged if not commanded that blogging be something that's done on a schedule. Each posting should be a regular occurrence.. Not TOO frequent, and not TOO infrequent.

I've thought about upping my game in order to really help my blog head somewhere, but honestly I don't think I'm ready for all of that. I'm barely keeping my head above boxes with all of the packing that's consuming my life.

Not only are Houston and I beginning to pack up the apartment for our upcoming move to New Hampshire, but the school that I currently teach at is moving to a new location as well. In the midst of trying to organize my residence into cardboard boxes I'm also trying to pack up my classroom for another teacher. I find myself holding a container of random puzzle pieces and an outdated reading comprehension book wondering if the teacher would even want me to pack these things or toss them. Fortunately I know her, so I'm not completely in the dark.

All of that to say, I can't see myself scheduling my blog posts. I was only able to squeeze one in today because I stayed home from work with a bad head cold. I'm hoping my immune system will rejoice at the absence of the germ filled tiny hands that touch EVERYTHING I daily come in contact with. So, scheduling doesn't seem to be something I can pull off just yet but I want to truly document and savor the moments that come with this adventure.

So far we've made great progress. Houston and I move out of our apartment and into our in-laws house on May 31st. All of our belongings will go into storage for a month, and then by the end of June we plan to rent a U-haul and launch for our trip across the country. We've traded Houston's car in for one that will function better within the snow and has a bigger engine. These things are important since Houston drives so much for his work (more on that later.) We'll be towing his car behind the U-haul and I'll be driving my car separate. Thankfully my father-in-law will be making the trek with us to help with all the driving.

Currently Houston and I are still in the process of finding a place to live. We've looked at so many rentals and have just recently entertained the idea of potentially buying our own loft within the city of Manchester. Loft living is a bit of a dream I have. I never thought I'd have the courage to buy something this early into our marriage ( three years in June! YAY) but after looking at some of the possibilities it seems like such a fun endeavor.

With all of this packing and searching for a new home, I grew saddened by the thought of leaving our little apartment. It has been my most fun project in form of decor. Each piece I've either made or thrifted and I truly love how it turned out. So, before the boxes ruin every room, I'd thought take a few pictures to honor this little abode that Houston and I have loved so much.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a photographer and these were taken on my iPhone.. SO don't judge me.

Living Room

Living Room

Living Room.. again

You guessed it! The Living Room

Bedroom 

Bedroom

Kitchen details

Kitchen again

Dining Room

Dining Room